Kai Qing
Population: 8,890 (60% Human, 35% Halfling, 5% Yuan-Ti) Government: Autocracy Religions: The Celestial Bureaucracy, Sseth Imports: Wood, Meat Exports: Rice Alignment: All Life and Society Kai Qing is driven by an almost entirely agrarian economy. The majority of the ordinary peasantry of this city relies on farming to make ends meet. Those who do not are either skilled workers of some sort, nobility, or bureaucratic government workers. Kai Qing provides an estimated 55% of the total Shou rice crop each year. A rising trend in Kai Qing is the population of Yuan-Ti. Slowly but surely, the Yuan-Ti population is rising. Because of the demographics of the city are slowly changing. Most Yuan-Ti are able to hide among the Shou Humans, disguising their reptilian origins. Because of their connections to the fell creatures in the Marsh of the Snake-King, many treat the Yuan-Ti with suspicion, believing their loyalties to lay with the Snake-King, rather than the Shou. In some cases, they are correct, and Yuan-Ti are indeed agents walking on behalf of the Snake-King. In most cases, however, they are incorrect, and the Yuan-Ti residents of the city are simply individuals trying to make a living, just like anyone else. There are also a great deal of Halflings in the city, who make up the largest minority population. For the most part, the Halflings coexist peacefully with Humans of Kai Qing. When the Halflings first began migrating into the city, many were worried, as the xenophobic Shou are wont to do. For the most part, these worries were unrealized, as the Halflings simply were looking for work, a place to raise their family, and other base desires. The only unfortunate side effect from the Halfling migration were the anti-Halfling laws that were put in place when they first began appearing in Kai Qing. Though such laws have long since been repealed, this allowed criminal elements of the Halfling migration to entrench themselves in the city. Most of Kai Qing’s residents are ordinary peasants, making a living off of farming, or other forms of physical labor. The only ennobled families living in Kai Qing are the Shinjo, and the Kazihito, the former of the two being the more powerful. Like other residents of the Shou Imperium, the peasants living in Kai Qing live primarily in single or shared family homes, made primarily of bamboo, hay, wood, and rice paper. Most dwellings are no more than one floor, and are not particularly spacious, usually containing only three or four rooms- a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a rest room. The noble residents of Kai Qing live in fenced in estates, containing multiple buildings and manors, comfortably for scores of individuals. Kai Qing has developed a unique cuisine, due to its unique location on the border of the Swamp of the Snake-King. Kai Qing is one of the few locales in the empire to utilize shrimp, crayfish and clams, either in dishes, or as dishes. Typically, rice is the main staple of dishes, with meats such as shrimp, crayfish, clams, crabs, rabbit, and duck- usually seasoned in swamp peppers- mixed in, in small chunks, along with green vegetables gathered from the swamps, like water spinach, bamboo, string beans, and bean sprouts. As is traditional in Shou cuisine, meals are served with tea, and eaten in individual portions, with chopsticks. Kai Qing is governed by a Lord-Mayor, like most other major Shou cities. Currently, the Lord-Mayor of Kai Qing is Tao Bei-Ang. His appointment twelve years ago caused a stir in the city, because members of both Clan Shinjo and Clan Kazihito believed that a member of their respective family would be given the position. Neither family bears the Lord-Mayor any ill-will, however. Major Organizations Clan Shinjo Clan Kazihito Xiao Zhi Major Geographical Features Kai Qing is located right on the border of the Marsh of the Snake King. As a result, much of the eastern portions of the city are actually built on mostly drained swampland. Large rice paddies, and plots of other crops that thrive in the environment are grown there. The people of Kai Qing make the most of the swamp on their doorstep. Foods involving crayfish, duck, marsh shrimp, marsh crabs, clams, frogs and turtles are fairly common, and dishes involving swamp eels, gambusia, crocodiles, and other lizards exist, though they are less common. Plants growing in the swamp, such as bamboo, rice, swamp peppers, and water spinach are staples of the vegetable diet of the people of Kai Qing. The Chi’i Yu River, known in common as the Lesser Chi’i River, flows through the city, providing the Marsh of the Snake-King with the waters that sustain the wetland. As it passes past Kai Qing, however, it is still fairly fresh and flowing. As a result, the city derives most of its drinking water from the city. It also bisects the city, with the affluent nobles having their homes in the northwest part of the city, with the middle-class and peasants having their homes closer to the waters of the river, and the swamp. The large rice paddies in the city lie in its south, where the marsh begins. Important Sites Noble Ward Temple of the World Serpent Dragon Bridge Hut of Xin Ye Regional History Kai Qing was first settled in the –1897, as a military fortress. Only two years before, Emperor Jei Fong had commissioned a large group of soldiers, skilled craftsmen and sages to explorer the entirety of the Shou Empire. Periodically, this expedition would stop and create fortresses where they could safely stay while an area was explored more thoroughly. This was the case in Kai Qing. Though they did not know it, the southeast was home to a large swamp, which would eventually become known as the Marsh of the Snake King. In –1987, when the marsh was first discovered, the expedition members saw the need to further study the area before leaving. Thus, a small fortress more or less where Kai Qing stands today was erected to house and protect the expedition members. Eventually, the expedition moved on, and the fortress was virtually abandoned. As was their policy, a skeleton crew of only a handful of soldiers, skilled laborers and sages was left behind. They were to then report back to the Emperor in Te Pao, with their findings and to request additional support. Botanists traveling with the expedition noted how abundant rice grew in the area. Indeed, the rich and wet soil from the nearby swamp made it very easy to grow large amounts of rice, much easier than anywhere else yet discovered in the nation. It was this fact that caught Emperor Jei Fong’s notice. Along with the requested military support to maintain the fortress, laborers and farmers were also sent east, to cultivate the land and manage crops in the area. When they arrived, a small village sprung up around the fortress. This small village would become known as Kai Qing. Farmers and soldiers who ventured too deep into the nearby swamp soon began disappearing. Rumors of evil spirits, strange creatures, and a curse began circulating the village. In order to quell these rumors, the local commander ventured into the swamp, to demonstrate that these rumors were untrue. The commander was attacked by the Snake King, a large bipedal reptilian creature, that was actually a Saurial. The commander barely survived the ordeal, and was able to return to Kai Qing to alert his troops that some kind of malign entity did inhabit the nearby swamp, and to send a missive to Emperor Jei Fong explaining what he had encountered. For the next 100 years, the residents of Kai Qing lived in fear of the creature in the nearby swamp, and never ventured too far from the village. Records indicate that Emperor Jei Fong was going to send more aid to Kai Qing to further investigate the creature. The Emperor, however, became sidetracked, as he had to suddenly deal with an encroaching Empire of the Sands. In –1797, Shou Jei Fong received word that a promising military cadet who was visiting his ailing parents in Kai Qing had been killed by the Snake King, after venturing into the swamp to find herbs to ease the pain of his suffering parents. Incensed, the Emperor sent a force of 45 elite soldiers to the town of Kai Qing, to rid the area of the Snake King once and for all. All 45 soldiers were killed. With 50 ordinary soldiers, a squadron of his elite Kikuta guards, a small group of civilians, and the Hound Archon Kuang Mao, the Emperor himself traveled to Kai Qing. Venturing into the swamplands, the group indeed encountered the Snake King. They were, however, powerful enough to parley with the Snake King before either side began attacking. The Snake King, impressed with the crass the Shou possessed, decided to listen to what the ruler had to say. The Emperor, simply, demanded attacks on Kai Qing end, and that the Snake King submit to the Shou. To appease the Snake King, the Emperor offered the creature twenty-five virgins. The Snake King accepted the offer, on the condition that he, personally, did not submit to the Emperor. The Snake King agreed to limiting attacks to only those who traveled deep into the swamp, and to giving technical sovereignty over the swamp to the Shou Empire, in exchange for being left alone. Both sides accepted that version of the deal. Shortly after that settlement was reached, strange beings began appearing in Kai Qing. They appeared more or less Human, but some of their secondary characteristics betrayed some kind of reptilian nature. Some had forked tongues. Some seemed to have faint scales. Some had yellow eyes, with reptilian slits. These strange beings were the first Yuan-Ti, Human-Saurial crossbreeds born from the unions between the Snake King and his twenty-five virgin Humans. When the Shou Imperium became complete, as expeditions to map the empire ended, more and more emphasis was placed on Kai Qing’s capability to grow large quantities of rice. Over the years, specialists and farmers alike have worked on optimizing the large rice paddies that grow in the outskirts of the Marsh of the Snake King, just outside Kai Qing. In –1,401, a large cyclone hit the city and wiped out nearly 50% of the annual rice harvest. Being that the rice harvest from Kai Qing was shipped all across the nation, and fed thousands upon thousands of people, this presented a very large problem. The empire would be racked by an increasingly problematic food shortage over the next two years, until, in –3,399, the Emperor enacted a policy in Te Pao, known as the ‘Great Appropriation’, that converted acres of land into dedicated food growing farms, easing the food crisis. Kai Qing would exist in relative peace for the next thousand years. Periodically, disasters, such as cyclones, or flooding, would cause problems in the city, but in most cases, these were not problems that could not be resolved in some way. In 809, the Xiao Zhi, a Halfling criminal gang, first became active in the city, causing a sudden upraise in crime that was soon dealt with. In 1,136, Tao Bei-Ang was appointed the Lord-Mayor of Kai Qing, causing some uproar, as both Clan Shinjo and Clan Kazihito believed that a member of their respective families would be given the prestigious position.